My father in law passed away recently, leaving a Rover 400 in the drive. Naturally with all the arrangements, checking the car insurance is still valid is quite a way down the list, but what the wife and i have learnt may be useful to others.
The car is not insured. The contract died with my father in law.
With a R reg Rover worth what £3k, that's not a big worry in the scheme of things, but for a high value car, it would be. Eagle Star (bless 'em they deserve a mention because they have been good) have given a three week extension on the insurance against fire and theft in good faith (long standing customer and all that). That runs out next week.
As the car now belongs to my wife and her brother, it can be driven third party only on their own insurance.
Like i said, probably not a big worry when the inevitable happens to your nearest and dearest, but something to be aware of.
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As the car now belongs to my wife and her brother, it can be driven third party only on their own insurance.
Are you REALLY sure about this? Most driving other cars (DOC) extensions only apply to cars that do not belong to the owner or their spouse.
I am not sure what the situation would be if probate had not yet been granted. IMO the thing to do is to get insurance on the car in the name of one of the heirs, but make sure that it is a policy that can be cancelled pro rata after a month or so when the car is sold.
Also, if there is some unexpired time on the policy, that could well be an asset of the estate, although I appreciate that it won't be much, because older drivers' premiums tend to be quite low.
Finally, £3k is possibly a bit on the high side for any 98 Rover in a private sale, although it all depends on the details.
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David
The insurance company didn't think that my wife driving the car on her insurance was a problem. I will have to read carefully the insurance. As you can appreciate, one has to tread carefully as not to be a complete pedant given the circumstances. On the other hand, the last thing they need is getting pulled for no insurance. It would be a bit perverse though if i could drive it under my insurance's DOC extension and my wife couldn't!
As it is, the car hasn't moved in two weeks, and it's not likely to be used. I wanted to highlight the lack of cover for fire and theft for people who are left with a £50k Merc or something.
BTW, i concur with your observations on the value, having checked the nested Autotrader thing, seems £2 - 2.5k is probably more like it. Scary for a five year old car.
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I always thought that you could drive another car third party only on your insurance (if your insurance allows) *only* if the other car in question was insured by *somebody* else in their own name. Anyone know if this is the case or am I mistaken?
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You beat me to it there robzilla - I believe you're right. My old Endsleigh policy certainly stipulated that the other car must not only not be owned by your but also insured...
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All I would say is that this is a fairly standard policy term and the policy should be checked for this, but apparently not all policies are quite as restrictive.
I appreciate not wanting to sound like a pedant, but to a certain extent, police officers, judges and claims assessors are paid precisely to be pedantic.
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I have 2 policies with the same Insurer, and until recently I thought they were identical (except for the individual cars that they cover).
However, it transpires that one policy gives the policyholder DOC cover for cars "not hired, or owned" by policyholder and/or spouse/partner . The 2nd policy does not give any DOC extension at all! I have not queried this 2nd policy wording because my 1st policy gives the cover I need to drive other cars.
My previous insurer used to give DOC extension to policyholder and named drivers for cars not owned or hired by policyholder.
The key point for "mare" to bear in mind is, whatever your or your wife's Insurers tell you, get it confirmed in writing. Note down details (Name, date, time) of your telecons with the Insurance company.
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It never rains but it pours and not wishing to be insensitive, but -
What are you doing about the requirement at law to forthwith notify change of ownership?
Letter to DVLA with VE5 explaining the circumstances should keep you legal.
DVD
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I'm not trying to pour oil on the fire here, but might that not have to wait until probate is granted? Otherwise surely the car belongs to the estate.
I know the V5 only records the registered keeper, but I'm just floating the idea here as it could be prejudicial to anyone who actually received the property.
The more I think about this, the more it seems like it's worth getting maybe £500 less and simply getting the executor to auction the car and just treat it as cash.
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DVD and David
Thanks, hadn't occured to me at all. Probate is yet to be granted, so by the sound of it perhaps the car doesn't (half) belong to the wife after all! Hard to get permission to drive the car too i should imagine.....
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Not at all, speak to the executors.
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David
Thanks for your input, greatly valued
The executors are my wife and her brother. Can they give permission then?
Mare
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To themselves? Yes. They have a duty to the estate, but if they are also the beneficiaries, there is no problem because no one is going to sue.
The point of the executors is that they have the power to represent the deceased so that, where his signature is needed, any transactions can still be carried out.
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I was in a similar position a few years ago when my father passed away. I was left with a car sitting in the road outside his house which obviously needed insuring plus I could really make use of the extra transport to help making all the arrangements etc.
I found his insurance company, Zurich, superb, their immediate reaction was:- there's 6 weeks left on his insurance, have you had any accidents/convictions in the last five years, no, good, you are now a named driver on the existing policy until it expires, please accept our condolences, cover note is in the post. I must admit I didn't give any thought to the fact that the contract had possibly expired with my father but the insurance company were true to their word and issued the cover note so they must have found a way round it. I suppose that really it is their choice as to whether they are prepared to write the risk but they helped a bit at a difficult time and showed that some insurance companies do realise they are dealing with humans.
Cockle
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All the advice given above is quite correct:
If probate is not yet granted the car belongs to the estate still and the executors may give permission for it to be driven (even to themselves). It is gratifying to hear that the insurers are prepared to offer an extension to a demised policy. However, one only hopes that their attitude would be just as 'human' in the event of a claim being made. Still - the insurers are presumably contracting with the estate to continue the insurance and so would in any case be liable in the event of a claim. Interesting litle problem if it ever came to a legal hearing!
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This must be an everyday occurance. Did you ask if Eagle Star would continue cover until things were sorted out? The fact that Zurich obliged for another backroomer should offer some hope. Eagle Star is a Zurich brand.
Chris M
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you would have thought that it could be more straight forward than it is. As you say, it is an everyday occurance.
Next step really is for the wife to decide what she wants to do with the car. Thansk for everyone's input, it'll be useful when the three weeks are up.
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My mums car was stolen on the day of her funeral, which was 11 days after her death. The insurance company, CIS, stumped up the cash with no hassle what-so-ever once the vehicle was found burnt out.
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